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(No Model.) 7 I A. 'A. SO'UTHWIGK & F A. WITTIGH.

BALE TIE. No. 277,432. Patented May 8,1883.

ATTORNEY-S.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AMOS A. SOUTHWIOK AND FREDERICK A. WITTIOH, OF ASHTABULA, OHIO; SAIDWITTIGH ASSIGNOR TO SAID SOUTHWICK.

BALE-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 277,432, dated May 8,1883.

Application filed April 3, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, AMOS A. SooTHwioK and FREDERICK A. WITTIGH,citizens of the United States, residing at Ashtabula, in the county ofAshtabula and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bale-Ties; and we do declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

Our invention relates to cotton'bale ties; and the novelty consists inthe construction, adaptation, and arrangement of parts, as will be morefully hereinafter set forth, and specifically pointed out in the claims.

The object of the invention is to produce a tie for cotton and otherbales which shall combine cheapness of material and manufacture,efficiency and durability in service, and simplicity of application;andto these ends the invention consists in the mechanismsfullyillustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a partof thisspecification, and in which- Figure 1 is a top plan view of the devicein position upon a bale. Fig. 2 represents a central longitudinalsection, showing the position of the hands when the tie is in use. Fig.3 is a longitudinal section of the dies employed for shaping the freeend of the metal strap according to our invention; and Fig. 4 is adetail section, showing a portion of the strap thus shaped.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar letters of referenceindicate like parts in all the figures, the buckle is formed so as topresent five cross-bars, which, for convenience in this description, wewill designate as strapbars, tie-bars, and binder. These bars, as thusdesignated, are arranged upon different planes for purposes which willbe explained. The strap which it is designed to use in carrying out thisinvention is the ordinary hoop-iron of commerce, and the onlypreparation necessary for such iron is to compress a portion of its freeend-say, fifteen inches more or less-between the dies B. These dies areof such conformation as to provide the free end a of the strap A with anumber of equidistant bearing-shoulders, a, with slightlyroundedcorners, and between eachtwo adjacent shoulders, a, with a planeportion, or inclined from the bottom of one shoulder to the top of thenext in one direction. These portions-that is to say, the plane portionsor inclined portions 0. and the bearing-shoulders aare arranged nearlyat right angles with each other, and care is taken that the metal is notweakened or the fiber destroyed by the bends being too abrupt. The metalstrap thus prepared has its opposite end passed over, in, and under theinner strap-bar, c, and up and over the outer strap-bar, 0, so that theforce of the confined material will bind this end of the strap betweenthe body of the strap and the said bar 0. The sides of the buckle C fromthis point curves inward, as shown in Fig. 2, and near the central partis provided with the binder-bar O, which is of approximately rectangularform, with its fiat top surface nearly on a plane with the lowerportions of the strapbars 0 and c, and with its lower flat portionnearly on a plane with the tops of the tie-bars d and d. The arrangementof these parts, in order to obtain the best results, are very important,as this construction of buckle and the peculiar form given to the tieend of the strap are adapted to each other.

The material having been pressed, and the tie to be applied before thecompressing forceis removed,it is only necessary to pass the tie end ofthestrap through the buckle over the tie-bars d and d, and under thebinder until one of the shoulders a finds a bearing against the innerside, (1 of the tie-bar d, when the parts assume the position shown infull lines. As soon as the great pressure is removed the strap assumesthe position shown in dotted lines, the force of the expanding materialbending the plane portion a sharply around the edge of the binder tomake one holding-point, the binder holding the engaged shoulder a fastinits contact with the tie-bar d, and the buckle, as a body, shifting itsposition to make these points of contact more secure.

It will be observed that the shoulders a are equidistant, their distancefrom each other being slightly less than the distance from the tie-- bard to the strap-bar 0, so that while one shoulder a has a bearing uponthe face d of the bar d, the next shoulder 0/ allows the strap to comeclosely up under the bar 0 to give the desired bend of the part ataround the corner of the binder O. For these and other reasons the. formgiven to our tie should not be confounded with the simple corrugationorcrimping which has been given to metal straps. In our invention eachbendis given fora specific purpose, and each bend serves its purpose, ashas been described.

In separating our improved tie from the bale, a blunt-edged instrumentmay be forced under the strap and a prying action given between thestrap and the bar d, or the same instrument may be used to give the tieat the point where it is bentaround the edge ofthe binder a smart rap,or both.

Having thus described our invention, What we claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a cotton bale tie, a strap, or ordinary hoop-iron, formed by diesfor a portion of its distance with shoulders at, and inclined portionsbetween the shoulders, the said shoulders being equidistant and thewhole adapted to serve with a buckle, as set forth.

2. In a cotton-bale tie, and in combination with a strap of ordinaryhoop'iron, formed with shoulders, as described, the buckle havingtie-bars, strap-bars, and a binder-bar arranged on different planes, andthe buckle being adapted to give a binding contact by reason of itscurved form, as specified.

' 3. In abale-tie, the combination of the buckle having strap-bars c andc, the tie-bars d and d, and binder-bar G, arranged on different planes,with the strap A, formed with equidistant shoulders a, and inclinedportions M, as herein set forth.

In testimony whereof We affix oursig-natnres in presence of twowitnesses.

AMOS A. SOUTHWIOK. FREDERICK A. WIT'IIOH.

Witnesses L. H. MEANS, U. B. WELLS.

